Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a perennial herb that is native to Europe and Asia, but has naturalized in many other parts of the world. It is a member of the Asteraceae family and is related to other medicinal herbs such as chamomile, echinacea, and ragweed.
The name “yarrow” comes from the Old English word “gearwe,” which is believed to be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root “gher,” meaning “to gripe or grasp.” This is thought to refer to the plant’s astringent properties, as it was used to stop bleeding and “grasp” the tissues together.
The scientific name “Achillea millefolium” is also derived from Greek mythology. It is named after the hero Achilles, who is said to have used yarrow to treat the wounds of his soldiers during the Trojan War. The species name “millefolium” means “thousand-leaved,” and refers to the plant’s finely divided leaves.
In addition to its common and scientific names, yarrow is also known by a variety of other names, including woundwort, milfoil, nosebleed plant, and old man’s pepper.
Yarrow has a long history of use in traditional and folk medicine. It is known for its astringent, anti-inflammatory, and diaphoretic properties. In herbal medicine, it is often used to support the respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems.
One of the primary actions of yarrow is as a vasoconstrictor, which means it helps to constrict the blood vessels and reduce bleeding. This makes it a useful herb for conditions such as heavy menstrual periods and nosebleeds. It is also used to support the immune system, as it has mild antibiotic and antiviral properties. Yarrow can be taken as a tea, tincture, or in capsule form.
In folklore, yarrow was believed to have protective properties and was often carried by soldiers to stop bleeding from wounds. It was also associated with love and divination, and was used in traditional love spells and divination rituals.
From an energetic perspective, yarrow is considered to be a cooling and drying herb. This means it can be helpful for reducing excess heat and moisture in the body, and can be useful for conditions such as fevers, inflammatory skin conditions, and hot flashes.
In terms of spiritual references, yarrow is often associated with courage and strength. It is believed to help bring clarity and focus to the mind, and can be used in meditation and spiritual practices to help ground and connect with the present moment.
Overall, yarrow is a versatile and useful herb that has a long history of use in traditional and folk medicine. It has a range of medicinal properties and can be helpful for supporting the respiratory, circulatory, and digestive systems, as well as the immune system. It is also associated with love, divination, and spiritual practices, and is believed to bring courage and clarity to the mind.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Family: Asteraceae
Parts Used: Whole Plant
Taste – Pungent & Bitter
Actions
Circulatory stimulant: This makes it particularly suitable for sluggish venous circulation, as seen in varicosities and hemorrhoids. Its astringency also makes it especially applicable for these conditions. There are also specific ways its circulatory stimulation manifests, such as its use as a diaphoretic and emmenagogue.
Stimulant/Relaxant Diaphoretic: This is an interesting property of Yarrow, making it likely one of our most reliable diaphoretics in that it is both stimulant and relaxant. On the one hand, it will help relax tension in capillary beds and vasculature, and on the other it stimulates circulation of the blood through its volatile essential oils. Thus it relieves superficial tension in the vessels and pores, and helps bring blood to the surface and stimulates sweating during a fever.
Anti-microbial: Yarrow is full of aromatic volatile oils that display antimicrobial/fungal actions both topically and internally. This in combination with its diaphoretic
property makes it useful in a wide variety of pathogenic infections both systemically and locally, especially for infected wounds in combination with its vulnerary
property.
Affinities: Yarrow has an affinity to a wide range of parts of the body, likely due in part to its incredibly strong affinity for the blood, which touches every part of the self. Also it’s unique combination of bitter, pungent, and astringent properties yield itself to a wide range of tissue and organ types.
Energetics: Qualities
cooling, drying, astringent, relaxant, stimulant.
Specific Indications:
Tongue – purple line anywhere, elongated, pointed, red, blue in the center; dry toward the center, not heavily coated, wet towards the edges… tongue cracked down
the middle and opening up to reveal criss crossed, red tissues.
Achillea relates it to Achilles, who represents the archetype of the wounded warrior. Achilles was a warrior of supreme strength, half-mortal and half god, who was
invulnerable to injury by being blessed in the river of Styx, with the exception of his ankle which was held when dipped into the river. He was said to be educated by the centaur Chiron in the medicinal, esoteric, and martial arts.
This all speaks quite closely to the medicinal picture of Yarrow on the level of the psyche. I commonly refer to it as the “wounded warrior” or “wounded healer” remedy. We all carry a wound inside of us- not a mere scrape or scratch- but a wound that penetrates to the core of our being, to our very soul. And it is the healing of this wound, this sacred wound, that constitutes a central thematic element of our soul’s growth, development, and evolution. Without attending to our sacred wounds, we cannot grow and evolve. It is our weak spot, our “Achilles heal.”
Yarrow helps us to face that wound, that part of ourselves that we spend much of our lives attempting to avoid, developing the courage and strength necessary to face our shadow and integrate our traumas and turn it into our transformation. In this way, the psychological picture of the Yarrow person is someone that is constantly run down, “cut to the bone,” stuck in patterns of blame, judgement, and criticism, and they are pointing fingers at everyone else for their life circumstances. This plant helps to take our traumas, our struggles, and challenges in life, and turn them into our teachings. Turning poison into medicine, weakness into strength, judgment into compassion, fear into trust and faith.
In this way, I consider Yarrow to be a universal medicine, which we will see it as such from the perspective of the body, but it also serves as a universal medicine for the soul.
